Posted by Aki Peterson (208.252.96.62) on February 07, 2002 at 08:20:01:
Hello friends,
I hear you. I understand that you would like a review of the C.H. Video, so below I posted the script. The interviews are not written out, but the body of the script is there. Please keep in mind that I suffer from Clusters as well - so I'm not an outside "reporter" trying to understand this disease - I know it, I live it and have the same issues as you all do. I didn't do it to make money, in fact I "donated" over 60 hours of my time to produce this and convinced my boss that this was an important story. It was a labor of love. I'm sorry that I cannot send out preview copies, I just don't have the money for that and the station - as ALL video production houses and TV stations - don't send out previews for many reasons...mainly financial. Unfortunately our station does not provide streaming video & audio, but you are welcome to check out the stations web site: wetmtv.com.
I must say though, that in our viewing area I (we) have received a lot of positive comments from viewers who saw the program....They wanted more information and a copy of the video as well. Don't get me wrong, I'm not pissed or insulted - a dollar is a dollar, but I did want to ensure you that it is more important for me to "get the word out about C.H." rather than finance a BMW...
I interviewed David "Drummer" Greenly and Steve Yevchak (who happens to be a photographer at a competing station) and Dr. David Haas, a neurology professor at SUNY Upstate Medical Center. I feel their comments are very descriptive of our disease...So, please read on...or print it out and stick it in your bathroom for your guests to read...
[OnCam:Aki]
[ReadRate:170]
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[SCULPTER ANIMATION]
THEY ATTACK QUICKLY. THE PAIN THEY INFLICT HAS BEEN DESCRIBED AS HAVING A POKER STUCK IN YOUR EYE OR A NAIL POUNDED INTO YOUR TEMPLE.
[GENERIC CROWD SHOT]
CLUSTER HEADACHE EFFECTS APPROXIMATELY 69 OUT OF 100,000 PEOPLE AND IS THEREFORE FAR LESS COMMON THAN MIGRAINE...AND MEN ARE AFFECTED MORE COMMONLY THAN WOMEN SIX TO ONE...
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[ON CAMERA]
CLUSTER HEADACHE IS PROBABLY THE WORST PAIN THAT HUMANS EXPERIENCE. THAT MAYBE AN EXTREME REMARK TO MAKE, BUT IF YOU ASK A CLUSTER HEADACHE PATIENT IF THEY'VE HAD A WORSE EXPERIENCE, MOST LIKELY THEY'LL SAY THEY HAVEN'T.
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[SHOT OF PREGNANT WOMAN]
WOMEN WITH CLUSTER HEADACHE WILL TELL YOU THAT AN ATTACK IS WORSE THAN GIVING BIRTH...WITHOUT ANAESTHETIC...OTHERS SAY THE PAIN IS GREATER THAN AMPUTATION WITHOUT ANAESTHETIC...
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[ON CAMERA]
THOSE STATEMENTS ARE ACCURATE BECAUSE I SUFFER FROM CLUSTER HEADACHES TOO. THIS WEEK, I WILL INTRODUCE YOU TO OTHER CLUSTER HEADACHE SUFFERERS, THEIR ORDEAL, AND THEIR MANY DIFFERENT ATTEMPTS TO HOLD THE BEAST BACK.
[OnCam:Aki]
[ReadRate:170]
[CUT AWAY OF HEADACHE COVER SHOT]
WE'VE ALL HAD HEADACHES AT ONE TIME IN OUR LIVES...SOME ARE FROM STRESS, SOME ARE SINUS HEADACHES OTHERS ARE MIGRAINES...THEY ARE ALL PAINFUL, BUT THESE ARE THE KING OF HEADACHES....A HEADACHE SO SEVERE THAT PEOPLE WILL DO ANYTHING TO GET RID OF THEM...INCLUDE COMMIT SUICIDE....CLUSTER HEADACHES HAVE BEEN GIVEN MANY NAMES BUT THE MOST DISTURBING IS THE SUICIDE HEADACHE....
[BACK ON CAM]
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CLUSTER HEADACHE GOT IS NAMED FOR THE WAY THE ATTACKS CLUSTER, OR COME IN BOUTS. BUT CLUSTER SUFFERERS -OR "CLUSTERHEADS" CALL THE DISEASE "THE BEAST" AND YOU WILL SOON UNDERSTAND WHY.
[CG:2SOUND\Dr. David Haas\SUNY Upstate Medical Ctr.\]
[Dr. Haas - IN: 05:58 "when a cluster headache is at it's height..." OUT:00:06:09 "similar to being tortured..."]
[Length:0:11]
[CG:2SOUND\David "Drummer" Greenly\Chronic Clusterhead\]
[Drummer - IN: 21:51 "I've never Experienced Any Pain Worse Than A C.H..." OUT: 22:19 "...end of the world..."]
[Length:0:30]
[CG:2SOUND\Steve Yevchak\Episodic Clusterhead\]
[Steve Y. - IN: "...within five minutes..." OUT: 5:39 "...I'll tell you that..."]
[Length:0:16]
[BACK ON CAM]
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AS PREDICTABLE AS CLUSTERS ARE TO EACH INDIVIDUAL, EPISODES AMONG SUFFERERS VARY GREATLY. EVERYONE ONE IS DIFFERENT..INCLUDING THE TREATMENTS THAT WORK BEST.
[PHARMACY CUT AWAY #1]
THERE IS A LACK OF OVERALL CONSISTENCY WITH THE DISEASE, WHICH IS PERHAPS THE REASON PHYSICIANS HAVE SUCH A HARD TIME UNDERSTANDING DIAGNOSING, TREATING AND CURING CLUSTER HEADACHES.
[Dr. Haas IN: 14:31"...they're called Cluster Headaches because... OUT: 14:53 ..."you have bunches of C.H..."]
[Length:0:20]
[TAKE Graphic #1]
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[Drummer - IN: 1:05 "...I first started having C.H. OUT: 1:47 "...I thought it was a tumor]
[Length:0:42]
[BACK ON CAM]
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CLUSTER HEADACHES ARE NOT LIFE THREATENING AND USUALLY CAUSE NO PERMANENT CHANGES. HOWEVER, THEY ARE CHRONIC AND ARE PAINFUL ENOUGH TO BE DEBILITATING DURING AN ATTACK, WHICH INTERFERES WITH WORK AND YOUR EVERYDAY LIFE.
[Steve Y. - IN: 11:02 "....when you go 3, 4, 5 weeks... OUT: "...it's not even safe to leave the house..."]
[Length:0:16]
[Steve Y. - IN: 1:38 "...it's no way to live... OUT: 1:55 "...you'll do anything to get rid of them..."]
[Length:0:19]
[OnCam:Aki]
[ReadRate:170]
THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF CLUSTER HEADACHE: EPISODIC AND CHRONIC.
[TAKE Graphic #2]
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IN EPISODIC CLUSTER HEADACHE, THERE ARE LONG PAIN-FREE REMISSIONS. CLUSTER HEADACHES ARE CLASSIFIED AS CHRONIC CLUSTER HEADACHE WHEN A PERSON HAS NO MORE THAN ONE WEEK WITHOUT HEADACHE DURING A PERIOD OF AT LEAST A YEAR. ABOUT 20% OF CLUSTER HEADACHE SUFFERERS HAVE THIS CHRONIC CONDITION...INCLUDING DAVID (DRUMMER)
Drummer - IN: 6:01 "...I'm chronic, they've always been here..." OUT: 6:43 "...18 year cycle..."]
[Length:0:41]
ALTHOUGH RESEARCH HAS GIVEN US MANY CLUES, THE ACTUAL CAUSE OF CLUSTER HEADACHES IS NOT KNOWN AND NATURALLY THERE IS NO CURE......
[GENERIC PEOPLE SHOTS]
BUT RECENT REASEARCH REVEALS THAT CLUSTER HEADACHE MAY BE RELATED TO YOUR BIOLOGICAL CLOCK, PERHAPS ONE REASON WHY CLUSTER SUFFERERS KNOW WHEN THEIR BOUTS WILL REAPPEAR AND EVEN KNOW WHAT TIME OF DAY THEY WILL GET THEM.
[Drummer - IN: 6:52 "...February is a bad month for me..." OUT: 7:26 "...in the Fall..."]
[Length:0:33]
[Steve Y. - IN: 3:59 "...My particular cycle is around the holidays... OUT: 4:37 "...in excruciating pain..."]
[Length:0:38]
[OnCam:Aki]
[ReadRate:170]
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[COVER SHOT OF SOMEONE ROCKING]
.ATTEMPTS TO RELIEVE THE PAIN...SUCH AS BANGING YOUR HEAD AGAINST FURNITURE, FLOORS OR WALLS...OR CONTINUOUS ROCKING FROM SIDE TO SIDE ARE COMMON...
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[TAKE Graphic #3]
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CLUSTER HEADACHES HAVE A VISUAL APPEARENCE AS WELL, THERE ARE COMMON CHARACTERISTICS OR "ACCOMPIANMENTS" THAT APPEAR WITH CLUSTER ATTACKS....
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[OnCam:Aki]
[ReadRate:170]
SINCE THE DISEASE IS RARE, LITTLE RESEARCH HAS BEEN DONE ON CLUSTER HEADACHE...HOWEVER,
PROFESSOR PETER GOADSBY, OF THE HEADACHE RESEARCH UNIT AT LONDON'S INSTITUTE OF NEUROLOGY, PUBLISHED HIS TEAM'S DISCOVERY ON CLUSTER HEADACHE IN THE JOURNAL NATURE MEDICINE. HE AND HIS COLLEAGUES FOUND AN INCREASE OF GREY MATTER IN AN AREA OF THE BRAIN KNOWN AS THE HYPOTHALAMUS ON THE SIDE WHERE THE HEADACHE OCCURS. THE DISCOVERY OF AN ABNORMALITY IN THE HYPOTHALAMUS IS SIGNIFICANT BECAUSE THIS PART OF THE BRAIN REGULATES DAILY RHYTHMS LIKE APPETITE AND BODY TEMPERATURE, POSSIBLY EXPLAINING WHY CLUSTER HEADACHES HAPPEN AT NIGHT.
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ARE ABNORMAL SLEEPING HABITS THE REASON BEHIND THE CLUSTER HEADACHE? IN STUDIES, RESEARCHES NOTICED THAT A HIGH PERCENTAGE OF PEOPLE WITH CLUSTERS ALSO HAD DIAGNOSED SLEEPING DISORDERS OF THE TYPE THAT INTERFERE WITH YOUR BREATHING.
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WHILE THEY STRIKE DURING THE DAYTIME, MOST OF THEM TEND TO OCCUR AT NIGHT, WAKING THE PERSON FROM A SOUND SLEEP.
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[OnCam:Aki]
[ReadRate:170]
ONCE A CLUSTER PERIOD HAS STARTED, A CHANGE IN SLEEP PATTERN, SUCH AS TAKING AN AFTERNOON NAP, SEEMS TO BRING ON THE HEADACHES.
[COVER SHOT OF POURING ALCOHOL - ALCOHOL BOTTLE/DRINK]
DRINKING ALCOHOL WILL ALSO BRING ON HEADACHES DURING CLUSTER PERIODS. THIS HAPPENS VERY QUICKLY--BEFORE YOU FINISH THE FIRST DRINK. FOR SOME, EVEN THE ODOR OF ALCOHOL WILL TRIGGER A HEADACHE. ALCOHOL SHOULD BE COMPLETELY AVOIDED UNTIL THE CLUSTER PERIOD IS OVER. NO FOODS HAVE BEEN BLAMED FOR STARTING CLUSTER HEADACHES. STRESS MAY BRING ON ATTACKS AND THE HEADACHES MAY START WHEN YOU ARE RELAXING AFTER A STRESSFUL TIME....
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[OnCam:Aki]
[ReadRate:170]
THERE IS NO CURE, SEVERAL TREATMENTS ARE AVAILABLE FOR CLUSTER HEADACHES. IT MAY TAKE SOME TRIAL AND ERROR TO FIND ONE THAT WORKS FOR YOU...AND IT IS DIFFICULT TO STOP A CLUSTER HEADACHE ONCE IT HAS BEGUN...
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[PHARMACY/DRUG SHOTS]
THERE ARE LITTERALLY DOZENS OF DRUGS TO HELP PREVENT OR STOP A CLUSTER HEADACHE, AND ONE OF THOSE TREATMENTS MAY SURPRISE YOU...PURE OXYGEN THROUGH A FACEMASK HAS PROVEN TO BE HELPFUL WHEN USED AT THE FIRST SIGNS OF AN ATTACK. THIS OXYGEN MUST BE PRESCRIBED BY A DOCTOR AND OBTAINED AT A MEDICAL SUPPLY STORE.
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[BACK ON CAMERA]
ONLY THE IMITREX INJECTIONS WILL END MY HEADACHES, SO I CARRY THIS INJECTION KIT WITH ME AT ALL TIMES DURING A CLUSTER PERIOD....
[OnCam:Aki]
[ReadRate:170]
DURING A CLUSTER PERIOD, LIFE SEEMS BLEAK AND EVEN HOPELESS. EVEN IN BETWEEN THE HEADACHES EACH DAY, YOU STILL HAVE A CONTINUING "MILD HEADACHE" AND SUFFERES ARE MENTALLY AND PHYSICALLY WORN DOWN...
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[SHOT OF INTERNET SITE]
SO, MANY SUFFERERS FIND HELP AND SUPPORT THOUGH THE INTERNET, THEY STAY IN TOUCH DAILY WITH EACH OTHER ON MESSAGE BOARDS AND
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[SHOTS OF CONVENTION]
A CONVENTION IS HELD EACH YEAR FOR CLUSTER HEADACHE SUFFERERS. THEY GATHER TO MEET EACH OTHER AND OFFER THEIR SUPPORT... THIS KIND OF SUPPORT IS CRITICAL FOR SUFFERERS BATTLING "THE BEAST."
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[TAKE GRAPHIC OF WEB SITES]
www.clusterheadaches.com
www.clusterheadaches.org